This is a leap into the unknown for me. I'll see what the future brings, but hopefully, it will bring some readers to 'my neck of the woods'.
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May 25, 2013

Room ... with a view - Friday Flash Fiction - all audiences

Hello folks!

It's time for another Friday Flash Fiction.

This week's prompt "write a short story from the starting point 'A room with a view'." had the creative juices flowing pretty quickly, but I was on a roll on a story I'm currently writing, so I didn't get around to letting these juices out until now.

I had fun writing it, letting it build up as I went.

I hope you'll enjoy reading it!

Room … with a view.

What a
night it had been.

What a
party it had been.

So much
fun, so much booze.

So many men
who had flirted with her.

Oh, yeah,
she’d had fun.

Without a
doubt, she’d had too much to drink, she wouldn’t argue that, but boy, she had
partied hard.

The amount
of alcohol she had consumed wasn’t helping her right now, but then again, she
had never figured she wouldn’t be given the best room in the house and now found
herself in a heated argument with a grumpy night watch who wouldn’t be budged,
no matter how much she tried to coo
him. When she lost her patience – which, thanks to the booze, happened fairly
quickly – the man lost his as well and the argument turned ugly, with threats
on both sides. Hers were in vain and she knew it. None of her lawyers could
make anything happen at this time of night and in this dump. Yes, that was how
quickly her opinion changed when she didn’t get things to go the way she wanted
them to.

She wasn’t
entirely sure she actually wanted to stay here anymore.

Maybe she
should just call her agent and get him to pick her up.

Even at this time of night, she didn’t care.

She was a
diva and diva’s got to do that.

But then
something happened and the night watch made way for a manager.

Finally.

“So, what
seems to be the problem, missy?” he asked her with an undeniable sarcasm …
which she hardly noticed.

“I want a
room with a view,” she stated, “and he
won’t give me the best room in the house. That’s
what’s the problem!”

“I want
your name and employee number.” she hissed angrily as she took a first – wobbly
– step towards him.

“That won’t
be necessary.” his boss said meaningfully.

“Oh, thank
you. You are such a doll.” she purred, leaning towards him.

He kept her
from stroking his cheek, but she thought nothing of it and wobbled on, hoping
the room wasn’t too far away.

She wouldn’t
make it if it was.

Having now
gotten his ass chewed out properly, the night watch even held her door and she
pranced by him with a smug smile, wishing him a good night.

“Yeah,
sleep tight, princess.” he replied through gritted teeth.

Oh, how she
loved to get them all worked up like that.

But he’d
had it coming to himself. If he hadn’t been such a pain, nothing would’ve
happened.

She crashed
onto the bed fully dressed, feeling the mattress sag a little and smelling the
faint odor of bleach on the sheets.

She was
asleep seconds after her head hit the pillow.

Wake-up was
rough and came way too early.

The banging
and clanging tore her from her beauty sleep and the alarms wailed incessantly.

‘Fire!’ her
tired brain screamed and she jumped up, only to stumble and fall to the cold
hard floor.

She didn’t
remember the floor being so hard, but then again, she hadn’t been awake much to
take in the scenery. She struggled back to her feet, taking support on the edge
of the bed, feeling the room spin out of control instantly. Thankfully, the
sink wasn’t very far and she didn’t get sick all over the floor like she had at
times. When the nausea passed, she splashed her face with water and stood up
slowly. She should’ve known better than to get up so fast, but the alarms … She
didn’t hear it anymore.

Had it been
called off?

Maybe it
had been a false alert.

She shrugged
and went over to the window, making sure to take support along the way to keep
from breaking her face again.

At least
the manager hadn’t lied about the view.

It was
absolutely amazing.

Breathtaking
even.

It almost
made her forget the pounding headache and foul taste in her mouth.

The bars on
the window spoiled it somewhat, but she would have to do with that for the next
90 days.

2 comments:

I wish I could know more about the moment she realized where she was. It's not quite clear whether the narrative perspective is clarifying and she hasn't quite clued in yet, or if this is such a common occurrence that she's used to quick jail stints by now. :)

Thanks for your quick reaction, Krisann. I thought the last sentence - about having to do with that view for the next 90 days - would be enough to make it clear this wasn't her first time. I guess not.